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Californian manatee (New Pleistocene)
Notable amount of following information for the species is compiled by using information from animaldiversity.org site. The link to both the original species article ishere (for West Indian manatee) and here (for Amazonian manatee). Californian manatee (Trichechus americanus) - A descendant of manatees that migrated to California's rivers. It resembles an Amazonian manatee, but is slightly larger, about the size of the West Indian manatee. It is a common aquatic herbivore of the Californian rivers, feeding on a wide range of aquatic freshwater plants. Biology and reproduction The size of Californian manatee is bigger than Amazonian manatee but is overall harder to pinpoint, similarly to the fact of which is the actual ancestor of C.manatee - West Indian manatee or Californian manatee.. A lot of time Californian manatee doesn't reach the optimal amount of the fat, which results in it looking longer and being seeker alowing it to making swishing swimming motions as well as quicker turning. It's body is marked and dotted with various colors such as those resembling bare mammalian skin as well as numerous tones seen in surrounding vegetation. Although algae can build up in C. manatee's skin, the sloughing skin acts as a self-rubbing tool, discarding algae layers that get too thick. Also C.manatee's lungs are still the same remarkable length as it's ancestors, allowing it to stay under water for much longer. C. manatee males pursue females during the estrus period, which ensures that only the most capable males are capable to copulate with them. But few things have changed - since Amazonian River is more smaller than the ocean, the females will occasionally emit certain sounds which will cause part of the pursuing males to turn on their competitors and try pushing and wrestling them, which gives the females larger chance to avoid being courted too early. The success of raising calves are much bigger among older females. Calves are taken care of for about 2 years but start consuming vegetation rather quickly. Female and grown-up calf can recognize each other later in life. Behavior and ecology Californian manatee can exibit both protective and relatively passive behaviors depending on density of predators found around. Being a large animal, mostly it doesn't need to defend itself or form groups. It prefers to switch from being diurnal to nocturnal and back depending on many factors, including quantity of food, state of health and more. Californian manatee can sometimes travel back into the ocean whenever it feels like river is not sustaining it's needs anymore. Members of the species communicate with sounds and rubbing against surfaces to leave scent. Even with having small eyes, they are able to navigate decently using vision. Californian manatees can eat different kinds of vegetation which they draw into their mouths using their specialized upper lip. They also constantly replace their teeth since the occasional abrasive food stuff wears them down. Californian manatees like others of their kind, dig up plants attached to the bottoms of the rivers so they would float upward and the feeding manatee could access air during feeding on the uprooted plant. Evolution It's speculated that the Amazonian manatee was the likely ancestor, but the appearance and the geographical range, points at another possibility of the ancestor being West Indian manatees instead. It had led to another theory of the both manatee species mingling with each other and then the descendants ending up in the Amazonian River. Both manatee species were capable of switching between freshwater and marine habitats as well as adapting to all kinds of aquatic sub-biomes. They weren't very fond of ending up in waterbodies much too shallow for them. The reason for the species moving into Californian River due to its being a recent biome and as such capable of offering niches, ergo possibilities, for such species like Amazonian or West Indian manatees. From there, the constant environmental pressures as well as their lifestyle, caused the Californian manatee species to originate. Category:New Pleistocene Category:California Category:Mammals Category:Herbivores